Flameclaw's Destiny
by LightningFoot
Summary: Flamepaw has a very important role, one that will save the clans from danger once again. The Dark Forest has been reborn, and now it is up to Flamepaw to try and stop them, however it would be hard to get all the Clans to work together during the Great Alliance. What is Flamepaw to do now...
1. Cats

**Lightclan**

Leader\- Lionstar

Deputy\- Blazespark-

_Apprentice Flamepaw_

Doctor\- Roguefeather-

_Apprentice Solarpaw_

**Warriors**

Crowflame

Shadowlight-

_Apprentice Lightningpaw_

Ravenwing-

_Apprentice Snowpaw_

Flarefang

Flashwind

Moonflight

Starflight

Tigerblitz

Darkflame-

_Apprentice Cloudpaw_

**Apprentices**

Flamepaw

Lightningpaw

Solarpaw

Cloudpaw

Snowpaw

**Queens**

Sunfeather

_Mother of Cavekit and Honeykit_

Mosslight

**Elders**

Jaywing

Wolfpelt


	2. Chapter 1

The hunting practice between the apprentices has begun. Flamepaw was stalking a vole. It was quite large in size. _Oh how proud the clan would be of me if I caught that_! he thought. He had to be extremely silent. Paw by paw, he was moving closer. He kept his belly skimming the ground with each movement. He now got into his hunting crouch stance. He leaped for the vole, but swiped to early! The vole noticed and began to sprint away.

"Darn!" Flamepaw cursed.

He began to chase after it. He needed to keep a steady acceleration so that he would be able to make sharp turns. This vole was pretty fast, that's for sure. He had eventually cornered it.

"You're not getting away," he growled.

The vole stared at Flamepaw. This made him confused. _Why is it just staring at me?_ he thought. While he was wondering, the vole made a leap and began to run away. He had let it go again! Flamepaw let out a loud growl and began to chase it once more. This time, he had to be more witty.

Starclan had given Flamepaw a third chance to catch this vole. He made a more elegant leap, surely he would catch it, but in a blink of an eye it had disappeared. Flamepaw had landed on nothing.

"How is this possible?" He asked himself out loud.

He looked to his right and was immediately angry. It was Cloudpaw. She had stole his catch.

"_Cloudpaw_!"Flamepaw let out a warrior's growl.

"Oh! Quite intimidating. My my, this vole is huge! The clan will be amazed at this," Cloudpaw jeered.

"That was _mine_ and you know it!"Flamepaw said.

"Well, it's not like I took it from you physically. I just... caught it really," Cloudpaw replied," You're just gonna have to catch something else I guess."

She snickered and padded away with the vole. Flamepaw was enraged. _Now what will I bring the clan? They will all be impressed that Cloudpaw stole my catch!_ he thought. He began to scrounge around for something else.

* * *

The apprentices had returned to the clan. Everybody admired Flame- Cloudpaw's vole. Flamepaw had brought back a lousy pigeon. It wouldn't feed anybody.

"Congratulations Cloudpaw! That vole could feed the entire clan!" Darkflame praised.

Once again, the congratulating began. Flamepaw walked off to his best friend, Lightningpaw.

Lightning looked at him, "Well um...nice pigeon?"

"Ugh! All I brought back was actually the lousiest thing. It will not feed _anybody_. That's my vole," He growled.

Lightningpaw looked at him,"That's not hard to believe. Cloudpaw has always been annoying, but how exactly did she steal it?"

"She caught it before I did, but I was ready and everything! I was hunting it down for _hours_," Flamepaw responded.

"So, you had multiple chances and failed all of them?" Lightningpaw asked.

"I may not of failed the last one! Until Cloudpaw got in the way," Flamepaw ranted.

Lightningpaw put his tail over Flamepaw's mouth,"Quiet! Lionstar is speaking."

The leader hopped up onto the highledge. The highledge was a hill that laid in front of the clan.

"The days of alliance is coming. Earthclan will be fighting by our side!" He declared.

The clan cheered.

"The gathering will begin tomorrow," Lionstar finished.

Flamepaw walked off towards his den. He felt tired from all those hours spent on stalking a vole he didn't even catch. He thought about the alliance. A new alliance meant more warriors, and more warriors meant _he _might become a warrior soon. Now Flamepaw couldn't sleep because of his excitement. He decided to take a stroll in the forest.

* * *

Flamepaw was walking in the forest alone. He thought about being a warrior. But he didn't only want that, he wanted to be a leader. No, he wanted to rule the entire forest. While he was walking, he saw something. The figure looked like a cat. On his territory. Flamepaw was already burning up with energy. This was his chance to prove that he was to be leader of the clan. He began to move slowly forward. The cat seemed to just be wandering around. _Idiot, _Flamepaw thought. He leaped and landed flat on the cat. The cat flipped over and kicked him right in the stomach. Flamepaw groaned in pain. The shadowy figure then got into a defensive stance. Flamepaw began to attack from the side, but this cat was skillfully dodging every move. Flamepaw charged at this cat, but it countered him and he fell to the ground. This cat was definitely skilled in battling.

Flamepaw growled," Who are you?"

The cat did not respond. It simply lunged at Flamepaw, bowling him over. It went for a second hit, but Flamepaw was ready. He gasped on the cat's left leg and flipped it onto it's back. He had the cat pinned down.

"Answer my question before I let you go," Flamepaw said.  
The shadowy figure disappeared. This confused Flamepaw. He looked around for the figure, and was then knocked unconscious. The shadowy figure began to run back to it's clan.

* * *

The next day, every Lightclan cat stood around Flamepaw. Flamepaw grew conscious again, and was confused to see everybody standing around him.

"Flamepaw, what happened?" Blazespark, his mentor, asked him.

"I have no idea," Flamepaw responded.

Blazespark looked around. The clan began to talk to each other about what might've happened. Flamepaw saw some fur left behind. It was gray.


	3. Chapter 2

Scalepaw had encountered a cat yesterday. He bragged to the other apprentices about how he annihilated the cat he was fighting, and knocked him unconscious. The apprentices were impressed at this, but some didn't believe him.

"So, that's one we know about. We need to find all of Earthclan and Lightclan apprentices if we're going to be able to win this battle," Scalepaw said.

The apprentices nodded their heads. Scalepaw was considered the leader, because he had the deputy as his mentor which was 'a great opportunity'. He didn't need his help. He was already being trained in his dreams, a special place. It was where the Dark Forest originally was, before they were destroyed by the mortal cats. There he would receive training from those who survived. Brokentail, Thistleclaw, and Snowtuft had all been reborn, however Tigerstar was gone for good. There were others, but they were weak so he didn't pay much attention to them.

"So, what do we do next?" Rainpaw asked.

Scalepaw glared at him,"I will address you with the rules when I do. Anyway, we need to go to Earthclan. Rainpaw and Snakepaw, you will scout the border. Balancepaw, you will tell us when the apprentices go out hunting or something to that effect. Tornadopaw, you're coming with me."

Rainpaw rolled his eyes,"So you were going to say it right after I asked you?"

Scalepaw ignored him," We move out tomorrow at dusk. Don't be late!"

* * *

Flamepaw was lying in his nest completely embarrassed. A cat was able to knock him out, and the whole clan saw him lying there. Lightningpaw was trying to cheer him up.

"Well, if you couldn't see it then how were you supposed to fight it?" he'd always ask.

Flamepaw just groaned. Cloudpaw wouldn't leave him alone at this point. Everytime he felt like he had forgot, Cloudpaw would bring it up again.

"It's not your fault. This cat had to have some kind of skill. None of us could've taken it," Lightningpaw pointed out.

Flamepaw's eyes widened. He had remembered something. The fur.

"The fur. The fur was gray," He whispered.

"Wh-what?"Lightningpaw responded.

"The fur was gray...the cat fought me in the dark. I think I know who did this," Flamepaw announced.

"Let me guess. Cloudpaw disguised as a cat in gray fur?"Lightningpaw jeered.

"Nope. A cat from Timeclan. _Scalepaw_. Timeclan is the only clan that fights better in the dark than at day. And Scalepaw has gray fur," Flamepaw said which quickly turned into a growl.

"Hold on. We don't know for sure it was him. You need to-," Lightningpaw was cut off.

"The gathering was today? I'll have a talk with Scaly."

Lightningpaw glared at him. Flamepaw gave him a confused look,"What?"

"You're gonna do something stupid at the gathering. This will only lower our reputation which we will need for the Great Battle. Then you can bash Scalepaw."

Flamepaw just snorted.

"Uh-oh," Lightningpaw began," Here comes Cloudpaw."

"How freaking wonderful!" Flamepaw cheered sarcastically.

Cloudpaw looked at Flamepaw with a straight face,"Do you by any chance have any _clues _of who this cat was? I was thinking a cat from Timeclan or Earthclan since they hunt at night. But Earthclan is our ally now, so probably Timeclan. Who was it though?"

"So, you won't make fun of me?" Flamepaw asked.

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot how lame you were getting knocked out like that. What, did you just stand there and let him uppercut you twenty times?" Cloudpaw laughed.

Flamepaw groaned. '_Life sucks. Cloudpaw sucks. Timeclan sucks_.'

"Scalepaw sucks," he let his last thought get out his mouth.

"Scalepaw? The apprentice of the deputy of Timeclan? He of all cats knocked you unconscious?" Cloudpaw laughed even more," Ok, whatever. We're still friends, but what we have to do is teach Scalepaw a lesson."

"You see! I told you lets talk to Scaly, but you said no. Now it's two against one. Majority rules!" Flamepaw shouted.

"Quiet down before the entire clan knows," Lightningpaw said.

"Before the entire clan knows what?" a voice said from behind them.

It was Solarpaw. Flamepaw groaned again. They told Solarpaw everything, and even he couldn't help laughing.

'Look, I'm sorry for laughing, but how in the name of Starclan does a cat land a dozen smashes to the head without you being able to dodge or fight back?" Solarpaw chuckled.

"You want me to show you how?" Flamepaw growled flexing his claws.

"Nope."

"Well where is Snowpaw? Everybody else is here," Lightningpaw asked.

"I'll go get her," Cloudpaw offered.

She padded towards the fresh-kill pile, where Snowpaw was.

"So, what are you gonna do at the gathering? Rip Scalepaw to shreds?" Solarpaw asked.

Flamepaw growled,"I'll try not to."

"Oh! Scary!" Solarpaw jeered.

Flamepaw instantly pinned him down. Solarpaw flailed helplessly.

"You mouse-brain. Are you stupid? You joke around with the best fighter in the clan and this is what-," Flamepaw was cut off.

"Get off him Flamepaw!" a voice shouted.

Flamepaw moved his pupils in the direction of the voice. It was Snowpaw. He instantly got off of Solarpaw. The doctor in-training smirked.

"By the way, you are not nearly the best fighter in the clan," Solarpaw said.

"Solarpaw," Snowpaw said in a serious tone.

Cloudpaw came back as well,"Well, we're all here now. Right now our main target is Timeclan, because of how Scalepaw was able to out-smart Flamepaw. He was also able to land many hits to the head and finish him with a smash that knocked Flamepaw unconscious."

Snowpaw giggled. Flamepaw buried his face in his paws.

"It was in the dark. He couldn't see-," Lightningpaw was interrupted.

"Well, we need to plan an attack on Timeclan. Our main target will be Scalepaw. Flamepaw and Lightningpaw will go for him. We will scout out the others. Solarpaw, you will assist us with energy herbs and treat wounds," Cloudpaw explained.

"Who made you leader?" Lightningpaw asked.

Cloudpaw ignored him and continued.

"Alright, we meet up tomorrow at dusk. At that pine-tree over there. If you fail to sneak out of camp, you fail to help the clan. Anyway, see you all tomorrow," Cloudpaw finished.

The apprentices then walked off in their own directions, except for Lightningpaw and Flamepaw.

"We should probably get some rest. The gathering is tonight," Lightningpaw said.

Flamepaw nodded and they both walked back to the apprentices' den.

It was time. The Lightclan cats were going to The Gathering. Flamepaw was walking beside his brother and Cloudpaw.

"Remember, don't touch Scalepaw. Don't even look at him," Lightningpaw cautioned.

Flamepaw ignored him. He wasn't going to attack the grey-tom in front of the entire gathering. But, tomorrow it was on.

"Meh, just let the gathering flow. If something comes up, then roll with it," Cloudpaw advised,"There might be a little bit of conflict, so then you can get involved."

"Or, he could stay back and we could make peace. This is a gathering," Lightningpaw argued.

"I can't control what a cat does. This maybe a gathering, but things will go how they go," Cloudpaw explained.

* * *

Lightclan arrived at The Gathering early. Later, Shadeclan had arrived. Lightclan's main and Timeclan soon followed behind, those two being enemies as well.

"Alright, Lightclan will start first. We are doing well. Our warriors are healthy and there is lots of prey," Lionstar announced.

Earthclan was the only clan that cheered. Duskstar spoke next,"We are doing well. However, we have smelt scents of Lightclan on our territory once again."

Lionstar glared at him," What do you mean _once again_."

"Our patrols found traces of them a moon ago, and now this. If we see it again we will obliterate your clan," Duskstar threatened.

Lionstar and Mountainstar, the leader of Earthclan, had both only chuckled.

"No! That's not fair! This is just another way for Shadeclan do fight us," Lightningpaw whispered to Flamepaw.

Flamepaw unsheathed his claws," If they want to die that's fine by me."

"So, how about Scalepaw?"Cloudpaw suggested.

Lightningpaw looked at her in a sad and surprised tone,"Why? Why do you bring this up?"

While he was speaking, Flamepaw was looking around for the grey-tom. He eventually spotted him.

"Ah, Flamepaw. Calm," Lightningpaw gestured with his paws.

"I will be calm once I see Scalepaw unconscious. Thank you very much," Flamepaw replied.

Before Lightningpaw could stop him, Flamepaw padded towards the grey-tom. Cloudpaw followed along with the other two apprentices.

"Hello my fellow Timeclans!" Solarpaw greeted.

The apprentices looked towards each other. Scalepaw seemed to be the 'leader'.

"Hey!" Tornadopaw greeted.

"Hello. Oh my, you're Flamepaw! I knocked you out yesterday, but for a cat who can't see in the night, you put up quite a fight. I'm Scalepaw," Scalepaw greeted.

Flamepaw's eyes widened. This was impossible? The other day you give a cat a concussion, the next day you're treating them like royalty.

"Flamepaw," he replied.

"Aha...I know. I said your name, remember?" Scalepaw pointed out.

Solarpaw chuckled,"He must still be unconscious!"

Scalepaw glared at him," Shut up, now."

Flamepaw was beaming on the inside, but he didn't show it. Scalepaw was cool, and he could fight really well.

"But, I challenge you. I challenge you to a duel tomorrow at dusk. Not just you, but all the apprentices. At the coast near the lake. Hope you accept," Scalepaw requested.

"Of course," Flamepaw responded.

"W-what?" Solarpaw whined.

"Alright, see you later!" Scalepaw said.


	4. Chapter 3

_Idiot! He actually fell for it! _Scalepaw thought.

He turned around to look at his crew,"So, Flamepaw accepted the duel. We are getting closer and closer to winning this war."

"How?" Rainpaw asked," The duel makes us vulnerable too, no?"

"That's the thing, they think it's just a duel. We're gonna have to go all out. Injure them," Scalepaw replied.

The apprentices nodded and followed Scalepaw back to the clan.

* * *

"I am proud to announce two new apprentices! Honeykit and Cavekit, would you please come stand beside me on the highledge please?" Lionstar asked.

The entire clan cheered as the kits were getting their apprentice names. Honeykit was renamed Honeypaw, and Cavekit was renamed Cavepaw. Honeypaw was apprenticed to Flashwind, and Cavepaw to Tigerblitz. Flamepaw was delighted, because now, they would have a surprise for Timeclan.

Eventually, the two new apprentices came to the apprentice den for the first time. Flamepaw grinned.

"So, seems to me like you too will be getting busy very soon," Flamepaw sneered.

Cavepaw replied,"Haha, you're right. But, what do you mean?"

"You see, _Timeclan_ has challenged us to a duel. It will be you first battle, and you guys know how to fight. Correct?" Flamepaw knew the answer to this, but he also knew what they were gonna say. Sure enough, he was right.

"Umm, of course!" Honeypaw replied.

"We'll teach you a couple skills," Flamepaw offered.

"Flamepaw, are you sure about this? They should be with their mentors," Lightningpaw pointed out.

"Right, go meet you're mentors first, then you can come back."


	5. Chapter 4

This was awesome. Finally an apprentice. Finally a _real_ part of the clan. Finally a fighter. Finally a hunter. Finally Cave_paw_. He was delighted. His eyes were filled with joy and boastfulness after the ceremony. And the best part was that his first fight was coming up very soon.  
Yesterday, after meeting his mentor, Flamepaw had taught Cavepaw some battle moves. Now he was ready for today. The day they would fight Scalepaw and his crew. It was only about five hours till they met up at the pine trees. To Cavepaw it seemed like hours. He decided to get something from the fresh-kill pile to fill him up. As he was padding towards the pile, he saw Flamepaw, Lightningpaw, Cloudpaw, and Snowpaw speaking to each other. Cavepaw bounded over to them.

"...so I take assault, you take ambush, and you will be backup," Flamepaw had finished.

Cavepaw's eyes gleamed with excitement,"What will I take?"

Flamepaw turned around quickly," Oh. Hello Cavepaw, we forgot to mention you. You can take back-up, with Lightningpaw. Honeypaw will take back-up as well," Flamepaw responded.

"Awesome, so what do I do?" Cavepaw asked.

Flamepaw looked at Cloudpaw with a questioned expression on his face. He turned back to Cavepaw," Well you umm... help out if Cloudpaw or I call for help. Otherwise, you will be fighting the other apprentices. But umm...be careful. They are full grown so...they might be stronger. Got it?"

"Yeah!" and with that Cavepaw bounded off.

* * *

Now it was time. Everybody else in the camp was asleep, except for the apprentices. Flamepaw took the lead as they padded towards the pine trees. Eventually, they had arrived there. It was fairly quiet.

"Perfect, ok. Snowpaw and Solarpaw , ambush. Lightningpaw, Cavepaw, and Honeypaw, go to backup. Cloudpaw, follow me," Flamepaw ordered.

Cavepaw followed Lightningpaw to behind a bush. In front of them were Flamepaw and Cloudpaw standing back to back. Up on one of the trees he could spot Snowpaw and Solarpaw carrying herbs. _This is going to be epic_, Cavepaw thought.

"Show yourselves!" Flamepaw growled.

Cloudpaw looked up. She saw ten glints of blue beaming at her.

"Flamepaw, over there-," it was too late.

"Now!" a voice had said.

Five cats shot out of the darkness. Flamepaw quickly flipped one over and slashed at another. Cloudpaw pinned one down and kicked another with her hind legs. Four of five cats lay still on the ground.

"How disappointing," a voice had called.

Cavepaw looked at the cat. He was a grey tom with broad shoulders and sharp ice-blue eyes.

"Scalepaw," Flamepaw growled.

"Far too easy for me. Is that all ya got Scaly?" Cloudpaw taunted.

"Not even close," Scalepaw said," Seems you were easy to fool."

Four cats jumped onto Flamepaw. Cavepaw stared in disbelief, _Holograms? Frauds? What?_ Cloudpaw looked at Flamepaw, and Scalepaw leaped onto her.

"Don't worry about him now," Scalepaw sneered.

Snowpaw leaped from the tree and landed on two of the Timeclan apprentices hard. She quickly swept one off of their feet and grabbed the other one by the scruff. Flamepaw got up.

"Back-up!" he called.

Lightningpaw, Cavepaw, and Honeypaw quickly leaped out of the bushes. Lightningpaw lured two apprentices after him. He was a fast runner, so the plan was to tire them out. Honeypaw helped Snowpaw fight off one of the other apprentices. Cavepaw looked around. He saw Cloudpaw was pinned down by Scalepaw. Cavepaw ran to go help her.

He yowled as he leaped onto the Timeclan apprentice. Cavepaw then slashed at his nose and quickly jumped off. Scalepaw looked at Cavepaw and smiled.

"You've got to be kidding me. You brought six and half an apprentice to this fight?" he chuckled.

Cavepaw got even more angry. He rolled underneath Scalepaw and battered at his belly. Next, he swept him off one of his paws and quickly lifted him up on his back. He rolled him over and quickly went back into a crouch. Scalepaw got up slowly.

"You've some skills-," Scalepaw was interrupted when Cavepaw quickly kicked him in the nose. A blue aura was shining around Cavepaw.

"No, this is impossible. You couldn't have receive your trait already. You're too young!" Scalepaw stuttered.

Above Cavepaw was a ring of sharp stones. He yowled loudly as he hurled them at Scalepaw. Scalepaw was being cut everywhere. He had a cut on his ears, muzzle, and most of his pelt was gone. Blood was flowing down his face. The grey-tom lay still on the ground. Cavepaw was panting after using his trait.

Cloudpaw stared at him in disbelief,"One does not receive their trait until they have gone to the Moon stone and spoke to Starclan. How did you receive yours?"

Cavepaw shrugged.

Rainpaw shrieked. He ran to pick up Scalepaw, but Cloudpaw quickly pounced on him.  
"Sorry Rainpaw," Cloudpaw said.

She grabbed the doc-in-training and knocked him out cold. The other three apprentices stared at Scalepaw and Rainpaw in disbelief.

"Retreat!" one called.

Flamepaw was walking towards Scalepaw. He saw the grey-tom, barely conscious, looking at him. Flamepaw reared his paw back and slammed Scalepaw in the face. The grey tom was knocked out.

"How do you like it?" Flamepaw sneered.

"Alright, that's enough guys, Lightningpaw had commanded, " They know they've lost. Let them go."

Cavepaw admired Lightningpaw's humility, especially after being a star in the battle. He was nice, but Clan was always priority. _A perfect warrior, _Cavepaw thought,_I'm gonna be just like him._

"Great job everybody. Now, let's go back to the Clan and tell them about this stunning victory?" Flamepaw had suggested.

* * *

"How could you be so stupid! Why would you _ever_ go out fighting Timeclan like that? Don't you know how much trouble you are in!" Blazespark lectured.

Flamepaw hung his head.

"Who won?" Blazespark asked.

A smile was quickly formed on Flamepaw's face,"We did of course. I used that move you taught me three days ago."

Blazespark grinned," Awesome. Now you get to do even more fighting, cause we're training for the Great Alliance wars."

He beckoned Flamepaw with his tail. Flamepaw had followed him, and was lead to the border between Earthclan and Lightclan. He saw two Earthclan apprentices coming with their mentors. Flamepaw had looked behind him. He saw Lightningpaw and Shadowlight padding towards the border, Darkflame and Cloudpaw close behind. Next he saw Cavepaw, Snowpaw, and Honeypaw all coming with Tigerblitz. All of Lightclan's and Earthclan's apprentices were eventually here. And Earthclan warrior came to greet Blazespark.

"Hiya Blaze. It's been a while, how are you?" the warrior asked.

"I am fine Tidalflame," Blazespark responded," Alright guys. What we will be doing today is training for the Great War. We will practice different moves, build hideouts, and practice our defence. Understand?"

"Yeah!" all the apprentice screamed at once.

"Alright, let's begin."


	6. Author's Note

Sorry I couldn't work on the book as often as I had planned, but is being annoying! I noticed that half of the sentences didn't even make sense, and I am trying to edit that, so please hold until then! Thanks!

_Lightningfoot~_


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Rootpaw/Cavepaw**

"Ok, first we will begin with using our defense. You will each perform a counter swipe on _me_. Claws sheathed please," Blazespark demanded.

The apprentices nodded. Rootpaw was worried. _I can't fail this_, he thought. Although, it seemed so far that everyone had failed. Except for Flamepaw and Magmapaw that is. He saw Silverpaw fumble his swipe and flip completely backwards landing head first. Rootpaw didn't even know how that was possible.

He was next. Blazespark was charging at him with full speed. _Aim for the right paw_, he had thought. Rootpaw had swiped under Blazespark's right paw sending the Lightclan deputy flying past him. Rootpaw had turned around. Blazespark had been caught in some brambles.

"Help!" he cried.

Rootpaw couldn't help but giggle. Sure, that wasn't how the attack was done, but hey. It had worked hadn't it? He ran over to haul Blazespark out of the brambles. He had them all over his pelt.

"Alright, that was interesting," Blazespark said with an angry tone.

"S-sorry," Rootpaw chuckled.

The last apprentice to perform the move, Cavepaw, had done it flawlessly. And by the look of it he was made and apprentice just two days ago!

"Alright, some of you have yet to learn a counter swipe. Now, we will work on battling. I will tell you your teams," Blazespark said.

"Ok, Flamepaw, Cloudpaw, Silverpaw, Honeypaw, Crystalpaw, and Skypaw over there. And over here will be Magmapaw, Cavepaw, Rootpaw, Peakpaw, Lightningpaw, and Snowpaw. Flamepaw's team will be playing defense. Begin!"

Flamepaw snarled," What an overpowered team."

Magmapaw spoke,"Ok, I will go around that birch tree with Rootpaw and Lightningpaw. You three will break through other defenses. Snowpaw will lead you."

Rootpaw shuddered. This would be his first real battle. _Doesn't matter, focus_, he thought. He had followed Magmapaw around the tree. He had spotted Skypaw guarding the entrance to the defense zone.

"Lightningpaw, go!" Magmapaw had commanded.

The grey-tom sprinted and pounced on Skypaw in what seemed like half a second.

"Alright Rootpaw, go!" Magmapaw whisper-shouted.

Rootpaw ran passed Skypaw not knowing what he should do. He had spotted Cloudpaw and Honeypaw. _I can't take em' both!_ he thought. And idea popped in his head. He had decided to sneak around Honeypaw and go for Cloudpaw. He was moving stealthily around the golden she-cat. He saw Cloudpaw guarding the "objective". He was getting ready to pounce, but something heavy slammed down on him. _Flamepaw,_ he immediately thought. He knew what to do. Quickly, he rolled underneath Flamepaw and began to sprint passed Cloudpaw.

"Starclan no!" Flamepaw bellowed.

Rootpaw ran passed to objective point,"We won!"

Magmapaw yowled in triumph. Cloudpaw just shrugged. Flamepaw was _boiling_ with anger. Everybody on the winning side seemed happy, and everyone on the losing side was 'ok'. Blazespark congratulated the six winners.

* * *

"Hmm, looks like we have time for a second round," Tidalflame announced," New teams!"

The offensive team was Cavepaw, Flamepaw, Rootpaw, Skypaw, Silverpaw, and Cloudpaw. The defending team was Magmapaw, Honeypaw, Lightningpaw, Crystalpaw, Nutpaw, and Peakpaw.

Flamepaw spoke," Ok guys. _Listen to me_. Cloudpaw, Rootpaw, and Silverpaw _back-up_. I will go with Cavepaw and Skypaw to break their defenses. Alright? Let's go."

Cavepaw bounded behind the ginger-furred tom and the Earthclan apprentice.

"Stop," Flamepaw commanded.

The two apprentices halted to a stop. Cavepaw could hear what seemed like two apprentices speaking.

"This way," Flamepaw directed.

_What?_ Cavepaw thought. Going that way would mean the enemy would see them easily. Their enemies weren't that stupid.

Cavepaw directly darted towards the objective. He heard Flamepaw curse loudly behind him, but this was for the best. If Flamepaw was smart enough, he could directly pass by while Cavepaw distracted them. But, Flamepaw logic and Cavepaw logic don't mix.

Cavepaw was only a few tail-lengths away from the objective zone. He saw Peakpaw shriek and call out to somebody. _Weakling_, Cavepaw thought. By then, Cavepaw had already infiltrated. They had won.

"And the winners offense!" Blazespark announced.

Cavepaw nodded,"That was a bit easy if you ask me."

Flamepaw padded towards Cavepaw," Wow. You're idea did work after-" he was cut off.

"Face it, Flame. You knew my idea was gonna work, you just didn't want me to do it because you wanted to be more superior than me. But look now. My idea worked. I hope you took back everything you said about me when I ran off."

Before Flamepaw could respond, Cavepaw bounded away to where everybody cheered his name.

Flamepaw felt something burning inside of him. Rage? Almost certain to be. He did _nothing_. He helped _nobody._ This was a waste of his time. Both times he had been a useless team member in the little "battle".

"Hey, do you guys smell that?" Magmapaw asked.

Flamepaw and everybody had begun to smell that weird scent.

"Smells familiar…smells like Shadeclan," Blazespark responded.

_Shadeclan?_ Flamepaw had thought. He saw Blazespark look around carefully this time. Cloudpaw and others were preparing for an attack.

Suddenly, a sound was heard. It sounded like a squeal. Everybody had turned towards the noise. Behind them, shady warriors had begun to sneak up. Flamepaw had turned around to see them, "Cats! Behind you guys!"

Blazespark quickly turned to meet their gazes. All of the apprentices had turned to see the cats.

A cat had begun to speak, "Haha, only two deputies and some apprentices. We can take them easy."

"Shadeclan, attack," the cat in front commanded calmly.

All the hostile cats sprung directly into the Lightclan and Earthclan cats. Flamepaw had seen Cloudpaw fighting off two large toms. He had also seen Lightningpaw and Cavepaw gang up on one warrior. _Why am I just sitting here?_ Flame asked himself.

Without notice, Flamepaw felt a heavy weight slam down on him. He had quickly turned up and threw that cat off of him. Flamepaw had looked the cat who had attacked him directly in the eyes. He was a tom with ice-blue eyes, and a pelt that looked dark-blue. He was broad-shouldered, a pretty powerful looking cat.

"Who are you?" Flamepaw asked.

"Who are you? Ha," the cat had mocked.

Flamepaw had broken eye contact with the cat and had immediately lunged at him knocking him down. The cat did not seem to be stunned, but instead pushed Flamepaw off with what seemed like no effort. Flamepaw had gotten up to his paws, and had lunged once again this time aiming for the cats' legs. With that strategy, Flamepaw had easily swept the cat, pinning him down.

"What, who are you? For real this time," the dark-blue tom had asked.

Flamepaw had loosened his grip on the tom a bit.

"I'm Flamepaw, and who would you be?"

The tom had wriggled out from underneath Flamepaw's paw and stood up,"They call me Azurepaw. That was my given name."

_Huh, no wonder his pelt looks so blue_, Flamepaw had thought.

"I don't really know how this battle had started anyway, I thought we had just been on a patrol. Seems like we weren't," Azurepaw had stated.

Flamepaw snorted,"No kidding."

"Alright! You've all been defeated! You cannot go on! Please take this opportunity to leave Shadeclan!" Tidalflame had announced.

"Ugh, whatever," a cat had muttered,"Shadeclan! Retreat!"

Azurepaw had begun to bound towards his clan. Flamepaw stared at the dark-blue apprentice again. _He doesn't seem like any ordinary cat. He reminds me of somebody.._.


	8. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Scalepaw**

"Well, seems like Shadeclan had decided to engage in yet another battle only to receive yet another loss. Idiots," Tornadopaw had smirked.

The Timeclan apprentices all shared a laugh,"See, this is exactly what we're trying not to do. At this point, we've found out all of the Lightclan apprentices, all that are left are the Earthclan ones. Alright guys, we sneak out towards the Earthclan border at dusk! Don't be late!" Scalepaw had announced.

"What? Are you kidding? We're just gonna sneak onto their border?" Rainpaw asked.

Scalepaw had simply turned away from him, walking towards the fresh-kill pile. _I'm really getting sick of that guy_, Scalepaw thought.

* * *

"Hey guys! Wake up! It's time!" Scalepaw had whispered.

Everybody had woken up groggily, "Ugh, seriously? Whatever," Balancepaw muttered.

The Timeclan apprentices had begun to walk towards Earthclan's camp. They had almost made it to the border.

"Alright guys, we've made it here. Now we have to be even more careful, or we could be caught," Scalepaw warned.

The apprentices nodded and slowly crept towards the border. Suddenly, Rainpaw had accidently stepped on a twig.

"Are you kidding?" Scalepaw roared.

A warrior was heard from just over the Earthclan border. He seemed to be alerting others of the sound that was heard. The Timeclan apprentices began to another side of the border.

Everybody glared at Scalepaw, "Shhh!"

Scalepaw hung his head, "Woops."

Balancepaw whispered, "Whatever, we weren't caught. Let's keep moving."

As the apprentices continued to find an entrance into Earthclan, a cat had spotted them.

"Hello over there, what are you up to?" the cat had said.

Scalepaw and the others looked around, until Rainpaw finally spotted the cat in the trees.

"Over there! Over there!" Rainpaw quietly cried.

Scalepaw looked up at the cat, only to meet his glare.

Scalepaw had glared back, "It's you!"


	9. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Flamepaw**

"Ugh, that was horrible," Flamepaw sighed.

Lightningpaw was standing beside Flamepaw, who lay belly flat on the ground, "Oh come on, you didn't even do that bad."

Flamepaw just sighed. Lightningpaw had sighed too.

Cloudpaw had walked up beside Lightningpaw and Flamepaw, "He's just tired, let's leave him be."

Lightningpaw nodded and strolled off with Cloudpaw. Flamepaw lay in his den thinking about the battle and had eventually fallen asleep.

* * *

Flamepaw had woken up in a marshy land. He had abruptly jumped to his feet, "Disgusting! What is this?"

Suddenly, a cat surrounded in a blue aura had padded towards him, "Welcome, Flamepaw.

Flamepaw was stunned. This looked like a cat from Starclan, would that mean that this marsh was Starclan?

"Uh, hi. Is this Starclan?"

The cat had only chuckled, "Not at all dear. Follow me."

Flamepaw followed the she-cat to a cave. It looked rather dark inside, but if it was a Starclan cat who guided him there, Flamepaw was ready for anything.

"So, who are you exactly? Like, which cat are you?" Flamepaw asked.

"I am Yellowfang, the Thunderclan Medicine cat," the cat had responded.

"Thunderclan?"

"Thunderclan is ancient Lightclan. Let me tell you the story. Long ago, there were four clans. Thunderclan, Shadowclan, Windclan, and Riverclan. Each clan had their own skills and territory. However, after the Dark Forest had attacked, most of the cats in the four clans had died. The remaining cats joined as one nation, eventually splitting back into four groups over time. With Starclan's blessing, they became Lightclan, Shadeclan, Earthclan, and Timeclan. The Dark Forest had become the Destined Plateau, but there are no cats there. None that we know of at least."

"Wow," Flamepaw had responded, "That's a long history."

Yellowfang chuckled, and began to pad closer to the mouth of the cave, "Alright Flamepaw, your journey begins here. Let me tell you this, listen to your heart. Don't do what you think would be the safest thing to do, because sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith."

Before Flamepaw could say anything back, Yellowfang had vanished.

"Ugh, so what now?" Flamepaw muttered to himself.

Suddenly, Flamepaw had heard a shriek from inside the cave. _What was that?_ he thought to himself. He decided to slowly enter the cave.

"Get away you brute!" he heard the cat yowl.

The same shriek was heard again. Flamepaw had thought that maybe it hadn't been a cat shrieking, but maybe even...a dog. That would've been incredible for a cat to defeat a dog.

As Flamepaw went deeper into the cave, it began to light up. He saw a cat with a very dark pelt pad around the dead body of a dog,"And nowadays the Clan Cats think dogs are scary. Hmph."

"B-but dogs are scary," Flamepaw murmured.

The cat abruptly turned her head towards Flamepaw, "And who would you be? Who sent you here?"

"I-I'm Flamepaw."

The she-cat padded around Flamepaw with suspicion, "And what exactly would you be doing here? It's dangerous you know."

"Yeah, but I heard a shriek and I wanted to help."

The she-cat let out a quiet purr, "I'll admit, that's what a noble warrior would do. They call me Shadow."

Flamepaw's eyes widened, "So like...Shadowstar? Original leader of Shadowclan?"

Shadow nodded, "Or Shadeclan. Whatever you wanna call it now. My Clan has been lost anyway. All of them have been..."

"What? Is it simply because of the names?" Flamepaw asked.

Shadow glared at Flamepaw with enough force to make him back away, "Simply a name? Those names were given by Starclan themselves, and now you treat them as if they can be changed whenever you feel like it? No! That's not how it should've been, not at all."

Flamepaw stood there, stunned at how loud Shadow's voice was, "S-sorry Shadow. I didn't know..."

Shadow stopped glaring at Flamepaw, "Don't even worry. It's not your fault, however I believe you can make things the way they should be..."

"Wait! Make what how it should be! Shadow!"

Everything in Flamepaw's sight had went black.


	10. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Scalepaw**

"It's you!" Scalepaw growled.

"Who else? You invaded my territory, what'd you expect?" the cat had responded.

Scalepaw had unsheathed his claws and began to climb up the tree, "This time, you're the one who's gonna get hurt _Magmapaw_."

Before Scalepaw could reach Magmapaw, the ginger-tom jumped of the tree, landing softly on the ground. Scalepaw had been stunned by this, and had ended up falling roughly.

"Hey guys, help me out here!" Magmapaw called.

Scalepaw's head ached more than ever. He had seen two other apprentices come to assist Magmapaw.

"Come...on guys. Attack them," Scalepaw groaned.

He had seen Balancepaw turn back towards Timeclan's camp. The others didn't hesitate to follow him.

"Well then, looks like Scalepaw's alone. What should we do with him?" asked a silvery-white she-cat.

"Maybe we should take him to Tidalflame, or even Mountainstar," Magmapaw responded, "But Brindlepaw, fix him up first."

Scalepaw was stunned. Why would they help him, even after he had tried to invade their camp?

"W-why do you want to help me," Scalepaw croaked.

Before he could receive an answer, Scalepaw blacked out.

* * *

"Hello, Scalepaw," a voice had said.

Scalepaw had woken up, his eyes growing incredibly large. It was Mountainstar, and not only him. Tidalflame, Magmapaw, and Goldenlight were there too.

"Um, well you see..." Scalepaw couldn't find the words to make what he did seem non-aggressive.

"I guess he wanted to test out his skills on a couple of tired apprentices," Magmapaw smirked, "I knew I had smelled something, so I waited up in the tree for them."

Mountainstar nodded, then looked back at Scalepaw, "I think Plasmastar would love to hear about this, but we are their enemies now. Until Timeclan comes for you, you will remain in Earthclan. Understood?"

Scalepaw nodded even though he did not want to sleep next to an Earthclan cat. At least they weren't going to kill him or anything.

"Magmapaw, go make Scalepaw a nest," Tidalflame commanded.

Magmapaw nodded, then beckoned Scalepaw towards the apprentice den using his tail. Scalepaw rolled his eyes, then got up to his paws.

"Ugh, why couldn't they just send me back," Scalepaw muttered.

"Shut up, it was your choice to invade Earthclan. Now you will be punished, however I also get punished for your stupid actions. Do you think I want to sleep next to a mangy, filthy, mean, stupid, disgusting, gross, weak, overweight, jerk? If so, think again," Magmapaw glared at Scalepaw.

"Uh," Scalepaw now knew that Magmapaw wasn't somebody you should mess around with. He had the glare of fifty warriors.

"Follow me. And don't do anything stupid," Magmapaw growled.


	11. Author's Note 2

Hello Guys! Sorry for not uploading as much, I just needed time to think. And I'm alos very poor at managing time (School, Work, Volleyball, etc.) But I'm glad to be back!


	12. Chapter 9

Rootpaw couldn't sleep, especially when Magmapaw and Scalepaw kept bickering. It seemed as if they've been since sun-down. He would always hear something like _move over loser_ or _stop acting like such a jerk_.

"Good Starclan, honestly. If you move out of your spot one more time I will make you sleep _outside_," Magmapaw threatened.

Scalepaw only snorted, "Yeah, look where you are now."

Magmapaw gave Scalepaw an aggressive cuff to his ear, "Repeat what you said, and this time a lot more clear."

Scalepaw had stood up to his paws, "This guy Magmapaw acts like he's leader, even though we all know he isn't. He's an apprentice like every single one of us," Scalepaw smirked.

"Both of you guys, shut up! You two aren't the only ones in this den," Crystalpaw scolded.

"Thank you," Rootpaw muttered very quietly.

Magmapaw growled, but stopped arguing. After a while, Rootpaw had fallen asleep...

"Guys, wake up. Patrol," Crystalpaw whispered.

Everybody got up, but Scalepaw continued to sleep.

"You're coming too," Crystalpaw smirked, "Actually, you're coming with us to patrol the Timeclan border. We're checking to see if there have been any _invaders lately_."

All except for Scalepaw chuckled. Scalepaw glared at Crystalpaw and got up to his paws, "Alright, are you all willing to bet that somebody invaded?"

"Shut up you idiot, we all know that _you_ and your cronies invaded our camp," Magmapaw growled.

Scalepaw only looked surprised. Rootpaw was too, "Woah there Magmapaw, it was just a joke."

Magmapaw looked at Rootpaw in confusion, "But Timeclan are our arch-enemies...how could you simply be so friendly?"

Everybody burst into laughter.

"Alright guys, so me, Rootpaw, Magmapaw, and Scalepaw are going to the Timeclan border. Meet Forestwing and Lavaclaw there," Crystalpaw commanded.

Magmapaw nodded and ran over towards the two warriors, while Scalepaw and Rootpaw took their time to get there. Rootpaw examined Scalepaw as he walked _he doesn't seem to be angry that he's here, it almost feels like he was always one of us_, he thought.

Eventually, all four of the apprentices were ready to patrol.

Lavaclaw had begun to speak, "Alright guys, we're going to patrol the Timeclan border. If you see or smell anything suspicious, please tell me immediately. Scalepaw, as long as you are here you are _Earthclan_, so you must report too. Understood?"

Scalepaw nodded, "Wouldn't dream of not telling you guys, I don't want to get beaten to a pulp...again."

There was a hint of a chuckle in his voice, and this confused Rootpaw. _He's really acting like he's one of us now... something isn't right here_.

"Yeah, and I'll go with him Lavaclaw," Rootpaw quickly stated.

Lavaclaw looked at him and nodded, "Of course, and I will be joining you. Forestwing will take Magmapaw and Crystalpaw."

Rootpaw heard Magmapaw let out a quiet purr. Rootpaw smiled at him.

"Well then, what's the hold up? Let's go," Scalepaw commanded.

Lavaclaw looked at him stunned, but nodded his head. Magmapaw narrowed his eyes at Scalepaw.

"Rootpaw, Scalepaw, follow me," Lavaclaw said.

Rootpaw had followed Lavaclaw towards the left of the Timeclan border. Scalepaw had been looking around for scents and signs. This only confused Rootpaw more. Deep inside he knew Scalepaw was up to no good, but he seemed to actually be helping...

"Alright, I'll leave you and Scalepaw alone for now, don't do anything stupid or you will be punished," with that Lavaclaw ran off.

Scalepaw stopped looking around and plopped down to the ground ,"Wow, I can finally just rest."

Rootpaw let out a tiny chuckle. Maybe Scalepaw wasn't all that bad, but Rootpaw still had a few questions. _He's Timeclan...yet he feels at home here._

"Scalepaw, it seems like you were always one of us...why?" Rootpaw asked.

Scalepaw suddenly jumped up to his paws and glared at Rootpaw. Rootpaw flinched.

"That's not something I like to talk about," Scalepaw snapped.

Rootpaw had immediately thought up a million questions. _Is there something wrong?_

"Woah," Rootpaw muttered.

Scalepaw only sighed ,"Sorry for snapping."

Rootpaw only stared at him _What could he possibly be hiding? Could it have to do with his parents? Could it have to do with..._ Rootpaw was thinking way too much.

"Wait, something is weird. You didn't attack me," Rootpaw said.

Scalepaw burst into laughter, "Don't you think I've learned not to attack cats for no reason now? I'm stuck in Earthclan and I can't even cross onto my own territory because I've been punished. Also, my clan hasn't even gotten me yet."

Soon, Scalepaw's laughter turned into a sigh of sadness. Rootpaw had begun to feel a little sympathy for the gray-tom.

Suddenly, Scalepaw's pride had been regained ,"But until they do, I am Earthclan."

Rootpaw had nodded.

The patrol had eventually been over, however Crystalpaw had caught a finch before they'd come back.

Scalepaw looked at Crystalpaw's catch, "Nice catch, did you catch it in mid-air or something?"

Crystalpaw smiled at Scalepaw, "Funny you should ask that, I've never leaped that high in my entire life!"

Scalepaw was astonished, "Wow, our- _your_ clan will be impressed at this."

Rootpaw had seen Magmapaw glare at Scalepaw as he was speaking with Crystalpaw. Rootpaw rolled his eyes.

Lavaclaw had begun to speak, "Good job you four, now you may go out some more or get some rest. I'd say you do the second one."

Everybody had nodded, and walked back to the apprentice den.

Eventually, the four cats had made it to the apprentice den, and everybody else seemed to have already been there waiting for them.

Silverpaw spoke first, "Finally back. So, how did the patrol go?"

Scalepaw had only snorted, "Not much to report at the Timeclan border. What about Shadeclan?"

Magmapaw shook his head.

After a while, Rootpaw had fallen asleep.


	13. Chapter 10

"Flamepaw? Flamepaw," a voice had whispered.

Startled by this, Flamepaw had opened his eyes widely and got up to his paws instantly, "Shadow! You're back."

The black she-cat nodded, "You see that?"

Shadow had directed Flamepaw's gaze to the pack of maybe ten dogs. Flamepaw was incredibly frightened by this.

"...woah," he squeaked.

Shadow had only let out a tiny chuckle, "Come on, dogs aren't all that bad Flamepaw. I've brought you here for a reason you know."

Flamepaw had looked at Shadow, "You brought me to all of these dogs? Why?"

"Because it's time Flamepaw," Shadow had replied, "It's time for you to discover your trait."

Shadow looked at Flamepaw deep in his eyes, "All you must do is focus all your emotions into one place. Do not wander off, do not think of anything else. While doing that, think about your name."

Flamepaw had begun to say to himself _Flamepaw, Flamepaw, Flamepaw.._

Suddenly, Flamepaw had smelled smoke, "Hey, is there a fire around here?"

Flamepaw had looked down at his paws seeing a flame that covered it. He felt a bit of fear at first, but it soon turned into joy.

"Alright, now you must control the flame towards those dogs. You can do it," Shadow encouraged Flamepaw.

Flamepaw had hurled the mighty flame towards the pack of dogs. They had all lit on fire and burned up.

"Wow, I can't wait to show my friends this," Flamepaw muttered to himself. He had begun to speak up a little more loudly, "Wait. Aren't you Shadow? As in, Shadowstar right. Why did you choose to help me? Why not a Shadeclan cat"

Shadow looked away from Flamepaw, "Shadeclan is not my clan. None of the clans are, so I can help whoever I want. Now you must wake up Flamepaw. A great darkness is coming... do not judge cats based on their clan, for you never know which ones will help you or which ones will betray you..."


	14. Chapter 11

It was only a few days before Flamepaw could finally become a warrior. After that dream he had, he was certain he would become one.

"Yeah, and I had received my trait! I had learned how to use it in my dream," Flamepaw explained to all the apprentices.

Everybody seemed to believe Flamepaw, except for Cloudpaw, "Really? If you had received your trait early, why not show us?"

Lightningpaw looked at Cloudpaw and shook his head vigorously, "No, just no. If it's true who knows what would happen? Flamepaw's never really lied before, so for now let's just believe him."

Cavepaw nodded at Lightningpaw.

"New topic, my assessment is today! If I pass then you all know what happens," Cloudpaw smirked.

Flamepaw looked at her with bewildered eyes, "T-today? Blazespark said in a few days! Oh, I haven't had time to prepare! What if I fail! What if-," Flamepaw was cut off.

"Please, you'll probably do the best of all of us," Cloudpaw affirmed.

Everybody had nodded. Flamepaw had calmed down, "You sure? Being the deputy's apprentice isn't everything."

"Why is this even something to worry about, with the Great Alliance everybody will become a warrior today. Just perform well," Snowpaw had said.

Everybody had agreed with her. Lightningpaw had replied, "Wow, you are right. They couldn't keep us apprentices. Plus, they have to take us to the Moonpool afterwards so that we can all receive _our traits_."

Cavepaw began to pout, "No fair! You four are all becoming warriors, and Solarpaw will be a full medicine cat! But I'm stuck here!"

Honeypaw nodded, "He's right. Haven't we been performing well?"

Cloudpaw spoke, "Of course you have, but you've only been apprentices for about three moons. Trust me, it goes by fast."

Flamepaw had eventually got up to his paws, "Come on guys, we don't wanna be late for the assessment."

* * *

The four apprentices had met up with their mentors near the entrance to the Lightclan camp.

Ravenwing had spoke first, "Alright, as you all know today is the assessment. We will be looking for the following: how well you hunt, how well you battle, but most of all how much effort you put in."

The other three warriors had nodded. Flamepaw felt himself shudder.

"Alright, remember to try your best. Now for the first part of the assessment, you must catch two pieces of prey; one land animal and one bird. Try not to take to long, and off you go!" Blazespark said.

All four apprentices darted into the forest. Flamepaw had eventually spotted a bird. He had begun to stalk it.

"Come on, concentrate," he told himself.

He had sniffed the air, this time paying close attention to what he smelled. _Mouse!_ he had instantly thought.

He had moved in on where the scent was coming from, and had spotted a plump mouse. Without waiting, he had lunged at the mouse, and gave a swift bite to the neck of it. It had fallen limp in his jaws. _Yes!_ Flamepaw thought. Now he only needed to catch a bird. Ironically, a huge pheasant had flown over him. _Oh yeah!_ Flamepaw had thought. He would catch this bird!

Moving up a tree to see the pheasant perched on the other side, he moved slowly on the branch of a tree. The pheasant was not far from him now; Flamepaw had seen an opportunity to lung for it and he did so. The pheasant had flown out of the way before Flamepaw could pin it down.

The pheasant had begun to strike at Flamepaw, however Flamepaw had dodged them. ow Flamepaw was leaping from branch to branch, trying to show the pheasant that he had air control. The pheasant had dove at Flamepaw, almost knocking him out of the tree, but Flamepaw had gotten up and lunged at the pheasant in mid-air. He had fallen, wind roaring in his ears, however the pheasant had supported his fall. Because of the fall the pheasant had been killed.

Flamepaw was incredibly proud of his catches, he went back to where the mentors were waiting. Blazespark looked at Flamepaw with large eyes, "Woah. Those are some nice catches, but I'll be honest, pheasants do not taste the best."

Darkflame looked at Blazespark in astonishment, "I like pheasant! I don't see what's so bad about it."

Eventually after Flamepaw, the other three apprentices had came. Lightningpaw looked at Flamepaw with large eyes, "Wow. Just wow."

Cloudpaw was surprised too, and Snowpaw seemed to be admiring the catches. Flamepaw had only flattened his ears, "Thanks guys, really."

"Flamepaw, why don't you tell us a little about your catch," Blazespark requested.

Flamepaw had nodded eagerly, "Well the mouse was nothing really, but the pheasant! I had seen it fly above me, so I had climbed a tree to get to it-," he was interrupted.

"You climbed to get it?" Lightningpaw asked.

Flamepaw nodded and continued, "I had moved slowly on a branch and had lunged for the pheasant, but it had got out of the way just in time! I knew the pheasant felt like it had control over the air, but I leaped from branch to branch to show it that I had control over the air as well."

Blazespark looked at Flamepaw, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? This is already sounding like quite the story! You may have to tell this to your kits."

Flamepaw sighed and continued, "Yeah. The pheasant had begun to dive at me, and had knocked me off balance; I was hanging from the branch."

Flamepaw had heard tons of gasps, "You could've _died_," he heard Snowpaw squeak.

_Oh my Starclan, I know that! Now stop interrupting_, Flamepaw bit back those words.

"However! I had gotten back up and lunged at the pheasant. We had both fallen down, but the pheasant had supported my fall, I also believe the impact itself had killed it. So yeah."

Everybody had stared at Flamepaw as if he were crazy. Flamepaw let out a quiet chuckle.

Blazespark smiled at his apprentice, "I've taught you well. Now let us move on to the next part of the assessment. Next we're moving on to what you've all been waiting for, the battle assessment. You will all spar each other, we won't look for a winner, only for what we've taught you. Now, we need to make things fair. Flamepaw, you fight Lightningpaw. Also, Cloudpaw will fight Snowpaw. Good luck!"

Flamepaw looked at Lightningpaw and gave him a curt nod. Lightningpaw also looked at Flamepaw with a competitive glare.

"Lightningpaw, Flamepaw. Follow us," Blazespark said.

Eventually, the two apprentices had followed their mentors to an open battle field. Lightningpaw took in a deep breath before meeting Flamepaw on the same field.

"Alright! Battle begin!" Blazespark yelled.

Flamepaw slowly began to approach Lightningpaw. Flamepaw had lunged a bit too high, giving Lightningpaw the perfect opportunity to dodge and unbalance him. Flamepaw had tried to get back up, but Lightningpaw had pinned him back down in a flash.

"Too fast for ya?" Lightningpaw smirked.

Flamepaw kicked Lightningpaw off of him, "Speed isn't everything."

Flamepaw had lunged directly at Lightningpaw, this time bowling him over easily. He had pinned down his friend without any trouble, and Lightningpaw struggled to get up. He had eventually fallen limp.

"Ha! That's it-," Flamepaw was easily cut off when Lightningpaw had quickly leaped into the air, swiping at his nose.

"You fell for it!" Lightningpaw cried as he began to attack Flamepaw.

Lightning had delivered fast and swift blows to Flamepaw's muzzle, causing it to sting. Flamepaw was being driven back. Flamepaw had lunged right into one of Lightningpaw's swipes, surprising his friend. This had allowed Flamepaw to go for another heavy blow.

Flamepaw had easily knocked Lightningpaw over again, "Can you still go on?"

Before Lightningpaw could get up, Flamepaw continued to deliver heavy blows to his stomach.

"Stop! That's enough!" Blazespark demanded.

Both of the apprentices leaped to their paws. Blazespark had began to speak again, "Great job both of you. However, you have a second battle too. Flamepaw, meet Cloudpaw over by where Darkflame and Ravenwing are."

Flamepaw nodded and darted towards where the two she-cat apprentices were. He had seen Cloudpaw waiting for him. Flamepaw narrowed his eyes at her and walked over to the battlefield.

"This is for that vole!" Flamepaw growled playfully.

Cloudpaw lashed her tail in the air quickly, "And this is for being an idiot."

Flamepaw and Cloudpaw slowly moved around the field, waiting for a good moment. Flamepaw was being passive, waiting for Cloudpaw to make a mistake. _Come on_, he thought. Soon, Cloudpaw had lunged at him, but had stopped directly in front of him. Flamepaw had been startled for a moment, giving Cloudpaw time to sweep Flamepaw off his paws and return to a defensive position. _Wow_, Flamepaw thought. He knew he had to step up his game a little.

He had lunged next, curving himself so that he could break through Cloudpaw's defenses and knock the white she-cat onto her side. Next Flamepaw leaped in the air, ready for if Cloudpaw sprang back up. Surely enough, she had done so only to meet a typhoon of claws attacking her muzzle. Easily, she had fallen back down giving Flamepaw more time to recover. Cloudpaw had gotten up slowly, this time a bit more serious. She lunged at him, but this time she was really careful with her blows. Flamepaw felt claws at his side, paws and muzzle all at the same time. Soon, Cloudpaw had knocked Flamepaw over and pinned him down. Flamepaw had glared at Cloudpaw, and with all his might, flung her off of him. Next, he had performed a successful flip kick right into Cloudpaw's chin. He had felt the familiar feeling inside of him during the dream he had.

Flamepaw had felt his paws get hotter, but he couldn't let them flame. He had looked at Cloudpaw, who had gotten up. Her eyes had turned from a blue to a very bright blue color. Flamepaw was astonished by this, and began to back up. Cloudpaw had leaped incredibly high into the air, something glowing around her. _Oh no, this is impossible. Could it be her trait?_ Flamepaw had thought. He had felt more pumped than he had ever been in his life. He thought it would be a good time to use his trait too!

Without trouble, Flamepaw's paws had lit on fire, and he had lunged into the air. Cloudpaw had hurled herself at him with incredible speed. The two apprentices had clashed, creating a very powerful wave that had moved through the forest. Soon, the battle field had been covered with smoke.

"Flamepaw! Cloudpaw! Are you both okay?" Darkflame asked.

Soon, the smoke had cleared. Both the apprentices were still on their paws, delivering swipes at each other.

"S-stop! It's over!"

Flamepaw had looked to see Blazespark and Shadowlight. Cloudpaw had landed softly, and had also seen the surprised look on their mentors' faces.

"That was amazing! You've both received your traits! You didn't even have to go to the Moonpool!" Blazespark said.

Cloudpaw sat down, "Yeah yeah, who won?"

Flamepaw looked at Cloudpaw, "None of us won. It was a tie."

"What Flamepaw said!" Darkflame cried.

Flamepaw had walked with the other apprentices back to the den. Cavepaw and Honeypaw were waiting for them outside the den.

"That took a while, so how did it go?" Cavepaw asked.

"It went well, we all did a great job. I mean, I'd be surprised if all of us didn't become warriors," Lightningpaw responded.

The other three apprentices nodded.

"Alright, I guess your promotion will be happening soon then," Cavepaw muttered.

Flamepaw nodded, and looked at the mentors talking to Lionstar. He began to feel a bit of anxiety. Soon, the mentors had moved away from Lionstar, and Lionstar had gotten out of his den.

"May all cats old enough to hunt listen to what I have to say!" Lionstar croaked.

Flamepaw looked at him weirdly, _that's not how it's said_.

Lionstar had continued, "I would like to call up four apprentices. Flamepaw, Cloudpaw, Lightningpaw, and Snowpaw. Please step forward."

The four apprentices had all stepped up on the High Ledge next to their mentors.

Lionstar had first looked at Flamepaw, "Flamepaw, do you wish to abide by the warrior code and protect your Clan no matter what it takes?"

Flamepaw nodded. Lionstar continued, "Then from this day on, you shall be known as Flameclaw! May Starclan light your path and destiny with every pawstep."

The other three apprentices had received their names too. Cloudflight, Lightningfoot, and Snowshine.

"Flameclaw! Cloudflight! Lightningfoot! Snowshine!" everybody had cheered.

_Finally,_ Flameclaw had thought. He was a warrior now, and the Great Battle was about to begin.

Lionstar had begun to speak again, "The Gathering should be tomorrow night, I will let you know if you are to come."

With those last few words, the cats had departed.


	15. Chapter 12

"Hey! Today you four should become warriors!" Scalepaw had called.

He saw Magmapaw, Crystalpaw, Rootpaw, and Silverpaw all resting in their dens. Magmapaw had spoke first, "Yeah, can't wait! But I can't help but worry..."

Crystalpaw had nodded, "I don't know if I'll pass to be honest, but Magmapaw, why are you worried?"

Everybody had nodded at Crystalpaw after she had asked the question. Magmapaw had began to respond.

"I don't know, I'm afraid I'll mess up. That's all."

"We're all afraid of that, but it won't happen. Come on, let's go to our mentors," Silverpaw had said.

Scalepaw had seen Rootpaw look at Silverpaw with gleaming eyes, "Yeah, good luck trying to perform your counter swipe."

"Shut up!" Silverpaw replied.

Scalepaw had watched the apprentices walk out of the den with envy. _Had I been in my clan I would be a warrior by now, but I must wait._ Suddenly, he had heard Crystalpaw tell him something.

"Scalepaw, why are you still there. Come out."

Without question, Scalepaw had lifted himself off of the soft dirt. He had padded towards the other apprentices' mentors.

Tidalflame had began to speak, "As you all know, today is the assessment. You will need to perform hunting skills and battle moves without trouble. First, you will all be hunting. One land animal, and one bird. Now go!"

Scalepaw had watched the four Earthclan apprentices bolt into the grassland.

"You too, Scalepaw," Tidalflame had said.

Suddenly, Scalepaw felt a bit of happiness. Maybe he wouldn't become a warrior in Timeclan, but in Earthclan...

He had begun to sprint off into the forest.

"From this day onward, you will now be known as Magmawave."

All of Earthclan had cheered Magmawave's name. The other apprentices were given names Silvertail, Rootfur, and Crystaleye.

"There is one more apprentice I would like to award. Scalepaw, would you please step forward?" Mountainstar had asked.

Scalepaw had felt a jolt in his stomach. He would become a warrior in Earthclan? This is not at all what he had expected, and what would the others think of this...

Scalepaw had walked up and stood beside the Earthclan leader, "You have done very well. Although you may be Timeclan, you worked with our apprentices and did not cause much trouble in the clan. From this day onward, you shall be known as Scalepelt! Starclan honors your actions and your behaviour."

Scalepelt was surprised to have earned a warrior name, but he was even more surprised to see cat _cheering_ his name. _I feel like I belong here,_ Scalepelt thought. He had padded towards the other cats.

"Congrats, you're really blending in here," Rootfur had said.

Scalepelt nodded, "Yeah..."

Silverpelt bounced, "And today's the Gathering!"

Scalepelt smiled. He was going to go to the Gathering a warrior. Timeclan may see him, but he wouldn't care. He was basically Earthclan now.

He had heard Crystaleye sigh, "Leafkit should've been here with us."

Scalepelt instantly turned his head, "Who?"

Rootfur spoke up, "Leafkit. He was half-clan, part Earthclan and part Timeclan. His mother had taken him back to Timeclan, where she lived. He was a great friend."

Everybody had nodded. Scalepelt had looked at them in confusion, _I feel like that cat is awfully familiar._

Scalepelt had only sighed, and walked back to his den. Wait, he slept in the _Warriors_ den now. He had seen the other new warriors beckoning him towards some free spots.

"You aren't going to the Gathering?" Silvertail had asked.

"Of course I'm going, I was just seeing where I would sleep," Scalepelt responded.

Silvertail had nodded, and padded off towards the group of cats. Scalepelt had followed him. He had stood with the new warriors, making Scalepelt feel a bit more comfortable.

Scalepelt had seen Mountainstar walk up to him, "Hello Scalepelt, we need to talk."

Scalepelt was a bit surprised, but soon was overwhelmed with worry, "Y-yes?"

Mountainstar had led Scalepelt into his den. Beside him stood Stonetail, Crystaleye's old mentor.

"Why are you here," Scalepelt had asked.

Stonetail had looked at Scalepelt with saddened eyes. Scalepelt had almost flinched from him.

Mountainstar had sighed, "Stonetail, why don't you talk to Scalepelt about why he's here."

Stonetail nodded, "Well, you see. I-I'm your father. I had loved Blightstorm, but it was forbidden for us to take care of you together, so you were taken care of here at first."

Scalepelt looked at Stonetail, _You? You are my father?_

"At first you were called Leafkit, but Timeclan had taken you to their clan. There you were named Scalekit."

Scalepelt looked at his father, "I'm this Leafkit? I'm the one that the other guys keep talking about..."

"Anyway, we called you here to choose if you wanted to stay with your father in Earthclan or if you had wanted to go back to Timeclan."

Scalepelt smiled and responded, "I'll stay in Earthclan, but I need to talk more with _you_. After the Gathering."

Stonetail nodded, and hung his head as he walked out of Mountainstar's den. The elderly leader had only sighed and followed him out. Scalepelt had followed Mountainstar as well.

Scalepelt had seen Rootfur waiting for him, "So, what exactly happened?"

Scalepelt replied, "Not much. Anyway, let's go to The Gathering. Mountainstar's gonna start gathering cats to go."

Rootfur purred, "_Gathering_ cats. Get it, like-."

Scalepelt playfully pushed Rootfur, "No. Just no."

The two toms had padded towards their other friends, who were also going to The Gathering.

"Hey, do you think Flamepaw and the others received their names?" Silvertail asked.

"I'd surprised if they didn't, Flamepaw's a great fighter," Crystaleye responded.

Scalepelt had only laughed, "Great fighter. That also explains why I was able to knock him out."

Nobody had laughed. Rootfur had continued to respond, "Yeah, I agree with Crystaleye. They were probably made warriors by now."

Magmawave nodded. Scalepelt had only sighed, "Yeah. Probably."

Tidalflame had walked to the front of the cats, where Mountainstar was. Scalepelt had seen that they were speaking. He saw Mountainstar nod his head.

Tidalflame had begun to speak, "Alright! Earthclan will now be leaving. and remember. If anything happens be sure to report to Radiantpelt, for I have left her in charge."

The clan had nodded and followed the leader and deputy to the Gathering Place. Scalepelt couldn't help but smile, _What now, Timeclan? I hope you'll be glad to see me, all settled. A warrior. _

Scalepelt had let out a tiny chuckle at the thought, and continued to follow.

* * *

Earthclan had eventually met Lightclan at the Gathering. Scalepelt and the others had walked over to talk with them.

Magmawave was the first to speak, "Hey guys!"

Scalepelt had recognized Flamepaw and Cloudpaw amongst the group of cats. Flamepaw had spoken, "Hello. How are you all?"

"Not bad, how about you Flamepaw?"

"Actually Magmapaw, it's Flame_claw_ now."

Magmawave had chuckled as well, "Yeah. And it's Magma_wave_."

The two toms had ended up bursting into laughter. Scalepelt couldn't help but chuckle himself. Soon, Scalepelt had seen Cloudpaw - or whatever she was now, look at him. She had braced herself.

"Hey...why are you in Earthclan?" she asked.

Scalepelt shrugged, "Well, Timeclan sorta launched an attack. And I was held in Earthclan until someone came to retrieve me, but that didn't happen. So, I ended up becoming a warrior in Earthclan. Pretty cool, huh."

The she-cat backed away a bit, "Sure...anyway, what's your name now?"

"Scalepelt," he responded with pride.

"Cool. I'm Cloudflight."

Scalepelt had eventually ended up telling all the former Lightclan apprentices his story. None of them seemed to be too astonished.

Flameclaw had spoken up, "Great! So, we're all warriors now, and the Great Battle is gonna happen soon!"

Everybody had nodded.

Eventually, Timeclan and Shadeclan had arrived. Timeclan had looked rather enraged. Scalepelt had known the reason, _they think Earthclan has stolen me_.

Plasmastar, the Timeclan leader, had begun to speak, "Let us start the Gathering."

The other leaders were rather astonished with this act of aggression, but hadn't said a word.

Plasmastar continued, "Not long ago, an apprentice from our Clan had gone missing. The other apprentices claim had Earthclan had held him hostage, and we ask for him back. Now."

Every cat had gasped, but Mountainstar had only calmly got up to his paws, "Well. What really happened was that a group of five apprentices had tried launching an attack on our Clan. One of them had gotten hurt, so we took him in to help him."

Plasmastar had interrupted Mountainstar with a snort, but said nothing more. Mountainstar had sighed and continued. "Scalepelt had trained well in Earthclan, and had even became a warrior along with four other apprentices, and you guys had never came back for him after all that time."

"We were waiting for the Gathering!"

Mountainstar chuckled, "You waited for the Gathering thinking I wouldn't bring him...so that you would be able to take him back?"

Plasmastar bristled, "I never said you wouldn't bring him here."

"You said I was holding him hostage."

"Well -."

Mountainstar had looked at Plasmastar, "Face it. _You _did not come for him, _you_ thought that I wouldn't bring him, and _you_ thought that he had found out the truth."

Plasmastar sat down, ears flattened.

Mountainstar had continued, "You did not _want_ Scalepelt, and you know why that is."

Scalepelt heard many cats muttering to each other. _The truth? What's that? Is there a secret being held in Timeclan?_

Lionstar had moved his tail rapidly in a horizontal line, ordering the cats to be silent, "Alright. Lightclan is also faring well. Four of our apprentices were recently made warriors. Flameclaw, Cloudflight, Lightningfoot, and Snowshine."

Only Earthclan had cheered, as usual.

Lionstar had continued. "By the way, Mountainstar. What exactly is this 'truth' that you speak of?"  
"Thought you'd never ask. You see, Scalepelt is not pure Timeclan, as a matter of fact he is half of another clan. Earthclan."

Gasps had filled the entire forest. Scalepelt had glared at Mountainstar, but Rootfur had placed his tail on his shoulder, forcing him to calm down.

Mountainstar proceeded, "His mother, as you all know, is Blightstorm. However, what about his father? Scalepelt's father is Stonetail, of Earthclan."

Scalepelt had heard Plasmastar let out a loud growl, "Alright! Alright! That is enough, Mountainstar."

The elderly leader nodded, "Very well."

Duskstar began to speak, "So..what I'm hearing is you didn't take back an apprentice you had trained for over six moons just because of who his parents were?"

Plasmastar growled again, "It's against the warrior code!"

Lionstar laughed, "By now the warrior code has been _abolished_. Don't use that as a stupid excuse. This gathering is over."

Without letting Plasmastar say one more word, the clans had begun to leave.


	16. Chapter 13

To think that Cavepaw was _so __excited_ to become an apprentice. Ugh, being one was basically a kit who was told around by any cat instead of just their mothers. The other four of his friends were warriors, and they had already left to go to The Gathering.

Cavepaw had wailed silently, "It _isn't_ fair."

His sister, Honeypaw, had overheard his complaining, "What isn't?"

The gray tom had replied, "They are warriors now! They get to go to Gatherings, they get to have cozy dens, they don't have to get told around all the time, yet _I_ still have to wait. I'm a better fighter than Snowshine anyway."

Honeypaw glared at her brother, "Hey! Don't say that. She's trained far longer than you have, so she deserves to be a warrior."

Cavepaw had only grunted back. _One day, I'll be the best warrior. I'll become Clan leader, and then I won't make cats warriors simply because of age. I'll make them warriors because of their skill._

Eventually, he had fallen asleep.

* * *

Cavepaw had woken up in a black field. The grass was black, the trees were black, everything was unnaturally black.

The gray tom had gotten up to his paws and padded slowly. Soon, he had run into a group of cats.

"Wh-who are you?"

One of cats leaned closer towards Cavepaw, "You desire to be a warrior, correct?"

"Well, of course! I've been putting in more effort than all Lightclan cats combined!"

One of the others had nodded, "Yes, you have. It's unfair that you don't get to be a warrior along with those other cats, so we are willing to help you become one."

Cavepaw's eyes had lightened, "Really! Thanks, but who are you exactly?"

A larger gray tom had spoken, "My name is Thistleclaw. These two are Snowtuft and Brokentail."

Cavepaw had nodded, "So, are you gonna teach me some battles moves or something?"

The large gray tom, Thistleclaw, had nodded, "Yes. You do want to become a warrior, don't you?"

Cavepaw nodded, "Oh yeah."

* * *

Flameclaw had been shocked. So much was revealed this Gathering. Scalepelt was half Earthclan! Now, that was a shock.

Cloudflight had been the first to speak to him, "So, you're half-clan?"

Scalepelt had only turned away. Flameclaw had sighed, "There isn't anything wrong. Being half-clan doesn't make you any less of a warrior."

Scalepelt hadn't responded. _Wow, he must be really upset!_ Flameclaw thought.

"Scalepelt, come on. You have to be stronger than this. Your blood doesn't determine your clan, loyalty does!"

Flameclaw had turned to see Rootfur saying those words, "Yeah, Rootfur is right. You can have what even bloodline you want, but only loyalty will determine your Clan."

Scalepelt had finally spoke up, "Yes, but how will the others look at me? Will they all see me the same way that you guys do? No, they'll remember me as a half-clan cat."

Magmawave spoke up, "Who cares what the others think, it isn't the truth."

"And if it's not the truth, then there's nothing to worry over," Snowshine had continued.

Scalepelt had eventually met everybody's eyes. he had let out a tiny chuckle, "Thanks guys. Really. By the way, why are you being so nice to me now? Did I not lead two attacks against both of you?"

Lightningfoot had padded towards the group of new warriors, "You did, but that was the old you. We can all see you've changed."

Cloudflight nodded, "Yes you have. And hopefully this time you're better at battling."

Scalepelt flashed Cloudflight a playful glare, "Says the one who needed help from a kit."

Cloudflight scoffed, "That kit has his trait already, so I wouldn't be talking. Anyway, I think we should all get going now."

Everybody had said their goodbyes and padded off to their clan. Flameclaw looked back at Scalepelt, _he's definitely changed._

* * *

Lightclan had eventually arrived home. Flameclaw had padded over to the apprentice den, but Cloudflight caught him, "Flameclaw? You're gonna sleep in there?"

"Uh - no!" Flameclaw stuttered.

Cloudflight chuckled, "Come on, I'll show you where you sleep."

Flameclaw snorted and followed her. _At least now I get to sleep in a comfortable den._


	17. Chapter 14

"No! Don't sheath your claws, and use your teeth!" Thistleclaw growled.

Cavepaw was fighting a Dark Forest cat, but he wasn't too sure what his name was. He used the skills that Brokentail and Thistleclaw taught him against this cat.

"Cavepaw! Do not let yourself show the slightest bit of mercy!" Brokentail said.

Cavepaw grunted as he continuously slashed at the warrior's muzzle. He had eventually pinned him down, and dug his claws into his belly.

"Well?" Thistleclaw growled.

Cavepaw looked at him in confusion, "Well what?"

Thistleclaw chuckled, "Kill him!"

Cavepaw had a feeling that Thistleclaw would ask of that, regardless of Cavepaw's morals. The warrior code did not say to kill cats mercilessly, but Thistleclaw claimed that Cavepaw could be a great warrior if he just listened to him.

The gray apprentice dug his teeth into the warrior's throat, killing him off eventually.

"Good," Brokentail rasped, "This one seems promising."

Cavepaw liked the sound of that, it meant that he was doing well. He had never killed a cat before, and never thought he would.

_I'll do whatever it takes to become a warrior, even if I must kill_, he thought.

* * *

Flameclaw had been chosen to go on a border patrol with Blazespark along with Lightningfoot and Cloudflight. Flameclaw overheard the two talking as they came towards Flameclaw and his former mentor.

"How was it sleeping in the warriors den?" Lightningfoot asked.

"It would've been fine, if you hadn't kept kicking me," Cloudflight responded.

The light gray-tom chuckled, "It's just like you to complain."

Cloudflight gave Lightningfoot a friendly cuff on his shoulder, "Shut up furball."

Flameclaw only chuckled at their conversation. Blazespark had begun to give orders, "Flameclaw, you go with Lightningfoot towards the Shadeclan border. Remember not to cause any trouble."

The two toms nodded and padded towards the Shadeclan border. Flameclaw had brought up Lightningfoot's conversation again.

"Oh, so how was it like sleeping in the warriors den," Flameclaw imitated.

"It was- wait. Are you mocking me?"

Flameclaw nodded, "Yeah. It was incredibly obvious that you were flirting with Cloudflight."

Lightningfoot flattened his ears, "I'm sure it wasn't that obvious."

_That's what you want to believe, _Flameclaw bit back the words.

The two toms continued towards the Shadeclan border. Upon arrival, Flameclaw had noticed that the scent markers were becoming a bit stale.

"Well, time to redo the scent markers," he muttered.

As he was doing them, a patrol of Shadeclan cats had come by. Flameclaw had stopped doing the markers as soon as he spotted them.

"Shadeclan alert," he said to Lightningfoot, who immediately braced himself.

The patrol had stopped right in front of the border from the other end. He saw that a tortoiseshell she-cat was leading three others. He recognized the dark pelted tom with the sharp blue-eyes behind the she-cat leading them.

"Well then, what do we have here? Two Lightclan cats redoing the borders?" the she-cat smirked.

Flameclaw only nodded. Lightningfoot actually spoke, "Yeah. What do you want about it?"

One of the toms spoke, "What use are borders anymore? All we ever scent is Lightclan on our territory anyways."

Lightningfoot replied, "I will not give you a fight. Say what you want, we never trespassed on your territory."

"Lies!"

The she-cat looked at the tom, "Shut up Grizzlyfang. There's no point in arguing with the 'true and heroic' Lightclanners. They never lie."

She only snorted and walked back towards her clan, leaving the other three toms at the border with Flameclaw and Lightningfoot.

The one tom, Grizzlyfang, started to speak again, "If I scent you guys on our territory again we will strike your clan. Huelesstalon, you stay here and rescent the borders. If anybody should respect them it's Lightclan anyway."

Flameclaw retorted quickly, "That also explains why you attacked Earthclan the other day. Because we need to respect the borders."

"You know nothing. Absolutely nothing. You think we're the bad guys? Think again, because we did nothing wrong. It was all your fault!" Grizzlyfang roared, "Come on guys, let's go back."

Flameclaw had only shrugged as he watched the three Shadeclan warriors pad back to their clan.

"Idiots. All they ever do is cause conflict," Lightningfoot growled.

Flameclaw only grunted in response and walked back to the Clan.


	18. Author's Note 3

_I have returned._

I'm really sorry for being away for so long, but my hibernation is over (who even hibernates for two years?!)

Please, enjoy the rest of the story, and I'll keep working on my other projects as well.

Thank you! ^^


	19. Chapter 15

Scalepelt gazed at the sky. It was very late into the night, but he couldn't sleep. He thought about what Stonetail had told him, about how Scalepelt was half-clan. He had a million questions he wanted to ask his father in the morning, but he had been unable to do so.

Suddenly, a rustle was heard in the bush. Scalepelt had heard the sound, and it had

concerned him a little. He had quietly made his way out of the den. _Fox?_ he thought. Turns out that the result was even worse than a fox. It was a cat. Lots of them. And they were from Timeclan.

Scalepelt looked into the bushes and saw tons of blue eyes. _Oh no,_ he thought. He knew what he had to do.

"Everybody! Wake up! There's an invasion! Wake up!" He cried.

Many of the warriors got out of their dens groggily. Some had instantly replenished their energy simply by looking at the bushes.

"Mountainstar! Timeclan are raiding us!" Skyflare cried.

The leader hadn't seemed to have heard the call. Scalepelt had begun to be overwhelmed with worry. He had to think of something, and only one thing had come to mind.

"Why are you here?" Scalepelt had asked. He wasn't going to back down just because of a surprise attack.

"We are here for you, obviously. Your mother has been very worried lately, and we'd appreciate if we didn't have to fight." Scalepelt had instantly recognized Plasmastar's voice.

Scalepelt had felt torn. _I have to pick between two clans? Starclan really is not fair..._ he had suddenly felt a surge of anger.

"You...you left me. You left me at Earthclan for _so_ long, and you expect me to just return? You think you have the right to say I am part of your clan? Earthclan had healed me, took me in, and trained me to become a warrior. They took care of me. There is _no_ way I am going back to Timeclan."

Plasmastar sighed, "I didn't want it to come to this-."

"And I won't let it. You leave now, or cats of your clan will _die_. You're a terrible leader already. You've shown that you're no good at taking care of apprentices, so you let other clans do it for you. Then you wait to take them back? Are you serious? Just leave Earthclan." Scalepelt had felt all his fear die down. All he wanted was to never see Plasmastar or Timeclan again.

"Have it your way then. We will not attack, but if we lose a clan member, why shouldn't you?"

Scalepelt looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Fusionspark," Plasmastar began, "Could you please do the honours?"

Fusionspark had nodded and looked at the sky. He had sighed and started to sway his tail slowly. Scalepelt had felt sick. He knew what was going to happen, he just wasn't sure who was gonna die.

"Please, stop!" he cried.

Fusionspark had moved in a flash. There was a terrifying screech, and before any cat knew it, he was sitting behind Plasmastar again.

"Stonetail!" Scalepelt had heard somebody cry. He had padded quickly over to where everybody crowded around his father's body. It was limp.

* * *

"And then they say we've done something wrong like they've never done something wrong before. The most hypocritical clan _ever_. I can't believe…," Flameclaw was tired of listening to Lightningfoot rant. He was more focused on why Shadeclan were so hostile towards Lightclan.

_What could we have done that made them hate us so much?_

"Hey, Lightningfoot. Why do you think Shadeclan hate us?"

Lightningfoot stared at Flameclaw in surprise, "Are you serious? It's _Shadeclan_. Do you think it matters why? They're ruthless monsters. Indisciplined. They do whatever they want. They won't listen to reason."

_That's only your frustration talking_, Flameclaw bit back the words.

Flameclaw had let out a tiny smirk, "Guess what?"

"What?"

Flameclaw tried not to laugh, "Gathering today."

Lightningfoot sighed, "No! Ugh, we have to talk to those Darksiders again. Can't they just not come for Starclan's sake?"

Flameclaw didn't bother replying. Lightningfoot was only frustrated. Extremely frustrated for that matter. He would just walk back to the Clan without another word.

"If you are going to the Gathering, please meet at the Clan's exit. Remember not to cause any conflict, and I expect you will not. No apprentices are here with us, so you all must be mature warriors," Lionstar had lectured.

Flameclaw only murmured 'ok'. Of course there were gonna be fights, Shadeclan were gonna start it too.

"Stupid Darksiders, if they even show a hint of wanting a fight, I'll just give them what they want. I don't care how immature it is," Flameclaw had overheard Cloudflight. Many warriors around her murmured in agreement.

"Yeah, I don't want to cause trouble, but you can't act like a 'mature warrior' if they won't. You must put them in their place." Lightningfoot declared.

_You'll just get hurt. All of you will, _Flameclaw had wanted to say, but part of him agreed with Cloudflight and Lightningfoot. Shadeclan would never learn, so only one thing could make them.

"Hey! I don't want to hear you calling them Darksiders. Okay?" Lionstar commanded.

Very little cats dipped their heads. Most of them had only lashed their tails, or snorted.

_Wow, do we really have so much hatred towards them?_ Flameclaw thought, _What did they do to us that made us so hostile towards them?_


	20. Chapter 16

"Looks like we're the first ones here," Lightningfoot said.

Flameclaw nodded, "Hopefully nothing crazy happens. I would hate for us to- nevermind."

_I would hate for us to have to go to war again! Everybody would just get hurt..._, Flameclaw had thought again. He didn't know why he was feeling this change. He had remember Grizzlyfang's words. _You know nothing. Absolutely nothing. You think we're the bad guys? Think again, because we did nothing wrong. It was all your fault! _What did Lightclan do to Shadeclan? What turned Shadeclan into complete monsters?

Earthclan had eventually arrived. Flameclaw had noticed that only Scalepelt, Magmawave, and Rootfur had been the only young warriors who came. Timeclan and Shadeclan had come later on.

Of course, the clans had to sit in the respective order. Earthclan, Lightclan, Shadeclan, Timeclan.

Flameclaw had heard a snort from one of the Shadeclan cats, "The always good and never evil Lightclan. They never do anything wrong, and always know what is for the better! That's why they want us gone. Because we're evil."

"And you prove your point! All of your actions are evil, and you never do anything good for the Clans!" Lightningfoot had replied.

Flameclaw had seen Grizzlyfang glare at Lightningfoot, "You think that we chose to do this? We are not _monsters_, we are all cats. Why do you try and make us seem like we're evil?"

"If you aren't evil, then why do you keep attacking clans for no reason?" Lightningfoot questioned.

Grizzlyfang had nearly struck Lightningfoot, but some cat had pulled him back, "Relax."

The dark-brown tom had only sighed, "Whatever you say, Leopardtail."

The gray dotted she-cat had replied to Lightningfoot's question, "You honestly think we don't have a reason for doing what we do? You think we should just respect you after what you've done? Are you a kit? Has anybody ever told you the truth?"

Lightningfoot had taken a step back from the Shadeclan cats. Flameclaw knew that Lightclan had to have done something wrong. The question was what they did.

"What truth? Is there anything that can justify how much you've hurt our clan?" Cloudflight had spoken now.

"Is there anything to justify how much you've hurt ours?" another cat had spoken now.

_Huelesstalon_, Flameclaw had remembered. He was also with Grizzlyfang and Azureflame during their border patrol.

"We can at least admit we've done something wrong, very wrong for that matter. But it was because of what _you've_ done. You cannot admit your actions were wrong, and you continue to act like you're Starclan's gift to the world," Leopardtail had hissed.

There was an awkward silence for a little moment. Lightningfoot had only muttered, "Darksiders."

All the young warriors from Shadeclan glared at him. Huelesstalon had spoken, "What did you say?"

Lightningfoot had repeated himself, more loudly this time, "Dark-siders."

Grizzlyfang looked ready to _kill_ Lightningfoot, but another cat, Azureflame, had pulled him back, "Don't let them provoke you."

Grizzlyfang had surprisingly calmed down. It was as if something was going to happen this gathering...

Flameclaw had stepped up, "Lightningfoot, just leave them alone. Arguing will get us nowhere."

As Flameclaw had rested his tail on his friend's shoulder, he met eyes with Azureflame's. The black tom had only glared at him. Flameclaw had turned around, pretending not to notice.

The Gathering had started. Lionstar had spoke first, "All is well in Lightclan! We are well fed-," Duskstar interrupted.

"Maybe you're all well fed because you've been prey stealing again! Learn your place for Starclan's sake!"

Lionstar growled, "Have you any proof of our clan prey stealing? Because I'm sure that we have not done so."

Duskstar retorted, "Not what I expected you would say. Of course you're going to justify your clan!"

A cry was heard from the crowd, "Shut up, Darksider!"

"How _dare_ you use that term! We are-," Duskstar had stopped speaking.

Flameclaw was in shock. One of the Shadeclan cats, Azureflame, had climbed up the ledge to sit beside his leader. Flameclaw had heard many cats scream 'Get down from there!' 'How dare you!' 'Stupid young one!'

Azureflame didn't seem to care. His eyes had begun to light up like the sun, "Today, I will spill everything! No more secrets! I am sick and tired of this unfairness, and I will put it to an end. Right here, right now."

Lionstar looked at Azureflame in shock, "Are you of no sense! Get down from there, right now!"

Azureflame completely ignored Lionstar's words. He had started to say some of his own.

"Light...Dark? Does it matter what side we are born into? What we've gone by for so long now is that if you were born into Lightclan or Earthclan, you would go to Starclan. If you were born in Shadeclan or Timeclan, you would go to the Dark Forest."

Lightningfoot yowled, "Yeah! And what we've gone by is correct!"

Azureflame only sighed, "Then answer me this. Who decides what clan we are born into? Starclan. And if Starclan wanted us to do evil, why would they have even made us a clan? Why don't they just make every cat Lightclan or Earthclan?"

That statement hit Flameclaw like a boulder. _It's true_, he thought, _why wouldn't they just make us all good? Why would they create evil?_

Lionstar had stammered, "It's th-the cycle. There can't be good without evil...right?"

Flameclaw kept himself from chuckling at what Lionstar said. _He knows something!_

Azureflame had let out a tiny laugh, "Sure, but can there not be rivals? That's what we are! We are simply rival clans! There are no evil clans, nor are there good clans. Being dark doesn't mean that you're evil!"

Many cats murmured in agreement, excluding of course the Lightclan cats. A voice in the crowd was heard, "You're right about that!"

Flameclaw had instantly recognized Scalepelt's voice. _He is correct_, Flameclaw thought, _How does he exactly know all of this though?_

"Thank you. So there is no evil clan, correct?" Azureflame assured.

Almost every cat murmured in agreement. Flameclaw had spotted Lightningfoot along with some other warriors leaving the Gathering. _They don't want to admit that Shadeclan aren't evil._

"Good…," Azureflame muttered. He began to glare at Lionstar, "Then why did Lightclan _lie _to us about why we are here? Why did they turn our clan into a savage clan?"

Lionstar did not respond. Azureflame continued, "Why did you try to _separate _us from Starclan. Why would you isolate our clan from our ancestors? Is _that_ not an act of evil?"

Lionstar quickly tried to say something, "Alright! This Gathering is-."

Azureflame had narrowed his eyes at Lionstar, "_No! _You will tell them the truth! Say it! Say that Lightclan are responsible for their own deaths! Say that Lightclan is responsible for the harm that they've done to our clan!"

Flameclaw was in shock. Did their clan actually do this to Shadeclan? _We couldn't have... there has to be some other solution._

Lionstar hung his head, "I'm...so sorry."

Azureflame stared at the sky, "One day, there will be equality. That day will come sooner than you all think."

It had been three moons since the Gathering. Lightclan and Shadeclan had not conflicted for a while; Lightclan were actually avoiding Shadeclan. Trying to, anyway.

Flameclaw had been lying on the grass, thinking about what Azureflame had said constantly. He grew up learning about how Lightclan had done great things, and how Shadeclan had done terrible things. If what Azureflame said really was the truth…

Flameclaw's thoughts were interrupted by Cavepaw and Lightningfoot's conversation.

"Why is this thing even called the Great Alliance. We done barely any battles," Cavepaw had said.

Lightningfoot responded, "I really wouldn't like to have a battle right now. Especially after what happened at that Gathering. It would just turn into slaughter."

_Was it not that before the Gathering?_ Flameclaw thought.

Cavepaw had lashed his tail, "I'm okay with that."

_What an ignorant response_. Flameclaw had decided to join the conversation, "Sure. Maybe you would survive, but many cats from our clan would not. What if your sister was killed?"

Cavepaw had flinched at what Flameclaw had said. Lightningfoot had replied, "Not likely. Don't worry about your sister, she's a fine fighter."

_I'm guessing Azureflame is too_. There was no point in arguing with his clanmates.

"Flameclaw...," Cavepaw had muttered, "You've changed. Has something happened?"

_I've changed? I've just matured_.

Cavepaw had continued, "You used to hate Shadeclan and you wished that you could put them in their place."

"Have they not already been put in their place? They can't even talk with their ancestors anymore."

Lightningfoot smirked, "Why would their ancestors want to talk to them?"

Flameclaw had easily replied, "I'm not sure our ancestors would want to talk to us. Not after what we've done to them."

Cavepaw had looked at Flameclaw with suspicion. He didn't care. He knew that was just their loyalty to the clan.

Flameclaw had seen Solarpaw pad towards them. He sighed, "Hello, Solarpaw."

The apprentice groaned, "I really want to get my legitimate name, but I'm still _paw_. Whatever. I overheard you guys talking about Shadeclan."

"Eavesdropper." Lightningfoot lashed his tail.

Solarpaw sighed, "It's not eavesdropping when you're louder than a group of badgers."

Cavepaw looked shocked, "Were we really that loud?"

Flameclaw shook his head, "New topic. Cavepaw, I really hope you've been training well."

The apprentice slashed at the air, "You bet I have..." His sentence trailed off.

Flameclaw looked at him in confusion, "Is something the matter?"

Cavepaw shook his head, "Not at all. I'm...uh...gonna go see Blitztiger now. See you!"

Flameclaw chuckled. _Did he really just say Blitztiger? Oh my, something must be wrong. The question is, what?_

* * *

Scalepelt was in shock. What had just happened made him think about what would happen in the future; what he would do without any of his parents. Now nobody in Earthclan was related to him. He grew up in Timeclan, so it still took some getting used to. Especially when some cats still disrespected him.

_Starclan...the fairest of them all_, Scalepelt thought. He knew that cats died all the time, but the way this had happened was unfair. His own clan killed his father. Plasmastar had killed his father.

_You know what? I'm done. Plasmastar, I am done. First, you say that you will not take me back because of the Warrior Code. Then, you ask for me back. You wait, I will get revenge._

Scalepelt had heard footsteps behind him. He didn't bother turning around.

"Sorry...for what happened," Scalepelt recognized Rootfur's voice. He still didn't turn around.

Rootfur quietly walked away, Scalepelt not noticing. He was too upset. What a stupid way to die.

_And I had so much I wanted to ask him about! Who is Leafkit? Why had I been renamed? _Scalepelt thought, knowing that he would never get answers.

He dug his claws into the ground. He didn't want to hear any of "He's in Starclan now" rubbish. He didn't want him in Starclan...yet.

"Whatever," Scalepelt croaked, "I'll avenge him later"

He'd found the strength to walk back to the Warriors den. Crystaleye had looked at him, "Aren't you going to sit vigil for Stonetail?"

"N-no. I c-can't."

Broken. That's the feeling Scalepelt had been witnessing at the moment. He could barely speak. He was without anybody now.

Crystaleye had replied, "It's alright, Scalepelt. We're here for you. Don't feel like you don't belong here."

Scalepelt wished that he could believe what Crystaleye had said, but he had been overwhelmed. He was barely able to make a reply without sobbing.

"But I don't belong here! Not anymore."

Crystaleye looked Scalepelt in the eyes, "I don't think Stonetail would agree with that."


End file.
